Tale as Old as Time in a Galaxy Far Far Away - Reylo
by allycarson
Summary: Kylo Ren is a beast in a metal mask and Rey is a beautiful scavenger in a Star Wars themed retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Reylo sweetness!
1. The Prince

Once upon a time there was a handsome prince named Ben Solo who lived in a beautiful castle.

His mother was a beautiful princess with long brown hair twisted into elegant knots. His father was a handsome, rogue smuggler who found creative ways to supply the castle with lots of money. The princess and her rogue husband were often away. She was busy governing the land and he was busy running his business. During their absence, the prince would often throw elaborate parties.

One such evening, the prince was entertaining an elite collection of guests. There was music and dancing and the most decadent foods anyone had ever tasted.

There was a knock at the door, a very persistent knock.

The prince himself made his way through the crowd and slowly opened the door.

There stood a haggard man with grotesque features. He offered the prince a rose in exchange for shelter from the cold outside.

The prince was repulsed by the man's appearance. He tossed the rose out into the snow and ordered the man to leave at once.

The man smirked and shook his head, his smirk turned to a laugh, and he laughed until the sound bellowed through the castle. The shocked guests stood behind the prince as he watched in horror as the man's beggar clothes fell away to reveal a golden robe. The man stood to his full height and reached with his spindly hands toward the prince.

Before the crowd's eyes, the despicable man transformed their beloved prince into a monster. His face was covered in a black metal mask and his fine suit was replaced by a black robe with rough, ribbed sleeves and a wide, binding belt. His hands were concealed in leather gloves and a dark, hooded cloak fell onto his head and shoulders.

The man didn't stop there though, one by one, as guests fled from the house, he transformed each servant into a common household object.

The man left the rose that was once carelessly tossed into the snow in the prince's gloved hand. He told the prince, who had been so proud and vain, that unless he learned to have compassion and love and earn another's love in return by the time the last petal fell, he would forever be cursed and would forever be known as Kylo Ren.

oOo

Rey was a beautiful and uncommon girl. She lived not so very far from the castle but to the south, in a low valley. Her home was in the desert filled with broken weapons and vehicles of war. Forced to exist on meager food supplies bartered in exchange for salvaged parts, she grew strong and brave.

Rey lived with a friend named Poe Dameron. He always dreamed of being a star ship pilot. Really, he claimed that in his younger days he had been a pilot. He told fanciful tales of being a daring leader of a rebellion against the crown. The people of the village mostly just regarded him as harmless but odd. He spent his days practicing on a flight simulator Rey had salvaged from a crashed Star Destroyer.

Rey sped through the dessert on her orange speeder, loaded with the day's scrapped parts, toward Unkar Plutt's salvage tent. She sang a little tune to herself...

"There go the makers in the fray like always

The same old tread and tools to sell

Every morning just the same

Since the morning that we came...to this little desert town..."

"Good morning, Rey!" Somebody shouted to her. She waved back casually.

She heard a few other scrappers singing...

"Well, it's no wonder that her name means sunshine

Her smile has got no parallel

With a brave and far off look

Her bow staff and a book, what a puzzle to the rest of us is Rey..."

She chimed back in herself as she began scrubbing her finds...

"Ohhhhh, isn't this amazing" she said holding up a partially cleaned item, "it's my favorite part because..." but her voice trailed off as she saw a fair man striding toward her.

Rey recognized him instantly.

Hux.

His appearance was striking and difficult to miss. His fiery red hair blazed in the bright desert sun. His skin was white in spite of the sun's harsh rays. His cheek bones were sharp and angled on his thin face. As always, his tall, chrome-clad friend, Phasma, followed just behind him. Rey often heard him refer to her as "Captain" but she was never sure why.


	2. The Scavenger

Rey turned away from General Hux, grabbed all her salvaged parts off the table and shoved them into her pack. If it was possible to avoid him, she usually did.

She pulled out her data pad before closing the bag and standing to her feet. She began scrolling through a novel she had been reading again, for the third time. The signal was very weak in her small desert town and she hardly ever had the opportunity to download new material. Paper books were extremely rare, Rey had only ever seen one or two in her entire life, and she never expected to actually hold one.

Somewhere behind her, Hux was leaning against a pole supporting Unkar Plutt's tent, "There she is, Phasma, the most beautiful scrapper in town." He said softly as he watched her walk away.

"Yes, sir." Phasma replied, her voice sounded almost mechanical as it came through the modulator of her chrome helmet.

Hux's cape flowed gently in the hot breeze, "I'm going to marry her." He announced, shifting his weight and motioning for Phasma to push their cart of weapons to the marketplace, "She's the most beautiful, and best scrapper in town, and don't I deserve the best?

"You do." Phasma answered pushing the cart ahead of her.

Hus drew in a deep breath, "In Jakku, there's only she, as beautiful as me," he began to sing, "so I'm making plans to woo and marry Rey."

Hux spotted Rey sneaking out of the back of Plutt's tent. He dodged around parts vendors and a couple food carts and caught her easily just as she reached her speeder.

"Hello, Rey." He said, leaning his forearm against the seat of her speeder, blocking her exit.

"Hello, Hux, if you'll excuse me..." she placed a hand on her hip, her face irritated and tired.

Hux caught sight of the data pad peeking out of her bag.

"What are you reading?" He snatched it up and began poking at the buttons but failed to even access the reading application.

She reached for her datapad but he evaded her, effortlessly. Her lips perched together in irritation.

"Shouldn't you be thinking about more important things?" He asked her.

"Like what?" She asked her voice growing darker.

"Like me!" He answered handing her the datapad but refusing to budge from his perch against her speeder.

"I'm not sure what you mean, exactly..." she glanced over her shoulder, her fingers playing along the strap of her bow staff.

"Why don't you come for a walk through the market with me, I have some amazing finds in my cart I think you would love to see." He extended his hand toward her.

She shrank back. Unconsciously, he moved toward her, pulling away from her speeder bike. "I really have to get back home, to help my roommate, Poe. He has trouble following directions, so making dinner is difficult for him." She said as Hux moved closer to her still. It was all the gap she needed though. In one swift motion, she slipped past him and swung herself onto her speeder.

Three young scrappers watched the scene from the line in front of Unkar Plutt's hut, "What's wrong with her?" One asked, shaking her head, willing to give anything for a chance to be noticed by the handsome and wealthy Hux.

"She's crazy," quipped another.

"You know, your roommate is insane." Hux said as Phasma approached them.

"Don't talk about my roommate that way," Rey scoffed, "he used to be a great pilot. He's just an independent thinker, at least that's what he used to tell his superiors..."

She turned the handles on her hulking speeder bike and sped into the open desert.

Hux looked at Phasma and laughed heartily.


	3. Poe Takes a Trip

Rey stepped into the belly of the AT-AT she called home and looked around for Poe. She didn't see him anywhere. She walked over to the wall and marked a tiny line with a rock onto the metal, scratching in the memory of the day.

Poe must have been practicing on the flight simulator. She ducked into what would have long ago been the command center of the AT-AT but he wasn't there either. Rey made her way into the makeshift kitchen and plopped the food portions down onto the table.

"Rey!" Poe's voice echoed into the room.

"There you are," she laughed, "I couldn't find you."

Poe dipped his head as he entered, the doorway of the refurbished home was far too low for him but his orange and white BB droid rolled in easily behind him.

"I have to go, I need some food, and some supplies but I have to hurry." Poe began throwing items into his pack as he explained, "There's a rumor going around that a man who lives on the other side of the desert has some information about Luke Skywalker." He finished breathlessly.

"Who?" She asked confused. Occasionally, Poe forgot that Rey was quite a bit younger than him and hadn't participated in the rebellion against the crown as he had in his youth.

"Skywalker was a Jedi, a very powerful man, he could help us turn this place around." Poe whispered, taking one of her hands in his. "Wish me luck."

She squeezed his hand, "Good luck then. Which way are you going?"

"North, past the sand fields." He answered.

"Be careful!" She reminded him.

"Of course, I'll be back by tomorrow night. Don't worry about me!" He called as he took off into the open desert on his speeder bike with BB-8.

Rey sat down at the table and made her dinner. The portions Unkar Plutt handed out for salvaged parts were never generous or tasty but they were enough-most of the time.

Poe rode the speeder through the desert until the hot sun faded onto the horizon and the stars began to shine overhead. The landscape slowly changed around him. The desert began to melt away as the land grew, though it was difficult to imagine, even hotter. After a while, he was even forced to keep to certain paths to avoid what could only be described as lava flows. He must have taken a wrong turn, gone the wrong direction, he'd never even heard of a place like this on Jakku. If he'd been forced to compare the environment with a world he'd seen before, he would have had to say Mustafar, that was the only planet with landscape like that.

Or a castle like the one that suddenly towered before him, again, if he was forced to say what the castle looked like, he would said Darth Vader's castle, but that's neither here nor there.

So, be that as it may, and despite the fact that the castle was quite foreboding, he was very clearly lost. The inhospitable nature of the environment and the lateness of the hour left him very little choice but to approach the castle and beg refuge for the night.

Poe knocked on the large wooden door.

Nothing.

He knocked again, harder, louder.

Silence.

He looked down at BB-8 who just tilted his head unit to the side, inquisitively.

Poe reached for he door knob. Instantly, the door unlatched.

Poe pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" He called into the empty space.

Only silence met his ears. He looked around the large room, he noticed the castle was cold in spite of the hot wind blowing outside. The environmental controls were obviously functioning, that led him to conclude somebody must still be occupying the premises. He took a few steps around the room. Then he saw it, delicious looking spread of food on a long black table.

"Ohh, that looks good." He said crossing into the dining room and settling into a chair. He's been living in ration portions for far too long and it would have taken a better man than he to resist such delicacies.

Poe ate several bites while BB-8 began scanning the room behind him, soft beeping noises emanating from his speakers. Poe reached for a cup sitting near him on the table. The liquid smelled like hot, melted chocolate, the cup was decorated with a fish pattern, swirling around the entire cup with the tail of the creature forming an elaborate handle. He lifted it to his mouth and took a sip.

Delicious.

"Isn't it good?" A voice asked him. A voice coming from the cup.

Poe dropped the cup the rest of the way to the table, the liquid sloshing out and pooling on the table cloth below.

"Who said that?" He asked, rising to his feet. BB-8 screeched a nervous beep behind him. Poe turned to check on BB-8. That's when he saw the tall man in the black, metal mask standing behind him.

"I'm so sorry, this must be your house," he began, but suddenly he realized he couldn't move his arms, or anything really, except, it seemed he was still able to speak.

"Whoa, ahh that's..." he began but the man in the mask just stared at him, with his hand raised toward him.

BB-8 rolled out of the room quickly, the creature in the mask turned to watch him leave but did nothing to stop him.

Poe's eyes darted around quickly, BB-8 was gone and he was being held frozen in place by a man who wasn't even touching him.

"Who talks first? I talk first? You talk first?" He asked, trying really hard to play it cool.

* * *

Author's Note:

I couldn't get Darth Vader's castle out of my mind when I was writing this. It's shown only briefly in Rogue One but it's exactly what I think Kylo Ren's cursed castle would look like.

I hope you enjoyed this story so far! Feel free to leave a review.


	4. The Cup

"Why are you in my home?" The beastly man asked him, finally. His voice was low and quiet, full of rage, barely constrained.

"I'm lost, I was trying to meet a man," Poe paused here, not sure he wanted to divulge any information about Luke Skywalker, but it didn't seem to matter, the man already knew.

"You're looking for Luke Skywalker." The man said, "What do you know about him?"

Poe raised his eyebrows slightly, "That's a strange sounding name, who is that?"

Without hesitation, the man reached his black gloved hands toward Poe, taking hold of his arm. He dragged Poe out of the dining room and through the great hall to a grand set of stairs. Poe figured that was as good a place as any to mount his defense, the height difference may put the masked man off his balance a bit.

It didn't.

Poe fought against the man's hold on his arm but as he thrashed and swung with all his might he found he made no impact whatsoever. In a valiant last effort, he threw himself toward the ground, the man would be forced to carry his entire weight. It's was brilliance itself.

The man chose that moment to release Poe's arm. Poe flew toward the stone steps, a lovely grey marble, Poe noticed as his face hurtled toward them.

When Poe awoke, he was sitting in a detention room that could only be described as a dungeon. He felt his head, his face. Bruising, but nothing worse by his inspection.

"I have a key." A now familiar sounding voice said.

"Who's there?" Poe asked, squinting his blurry eyes.

"Down here." The voice said.

Poe spotted the little cup from the table earlier, "You have a key?" He asked suspiciously.

"Just to that door," the cup directed his little tail shaped handle toward the door at the back of Poe's cell.

Poe pushed himself up to his feet and looked out the little window at the top of the door.

"It's just a little balcony...on the twentieth floor," he said looking back to the cup, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because," the cup began, "if you stay in here you'll waste away to nothing, you need to be outside in the sunshine to exercise and-"

"You can't open the door." Poe interrupted.

"I can't open the door." The cup agreed.

"Ok, give me the key, let's get some fresh air." Poe motioned for the cup to come inside, between the bars, "What's your name?"

"I don't remember my name from before the curse," the cup said sadly, "I'm Cup 2187."

"Curse? What curse?" Poe stared at him confused, "And what kind of name is that?"

"It's the only name they ever gave me." he answered.

"Well, I ain't using it." Poe shook his head, looking at the little cup's tail shaped handle, a tail that looked like a fin, "I know! I'll call you Finn!"

The little cup smiled, mentally trying the name on for size, "Finn, I like that!"


	5. The Exchange

The helmet's shield kept the sun out of Rey's eyes as she sat just outside her AT-AT eating her ration portions. The desert was still and quiet. She'd scavenged some decent parts that morning but Plutt had acted like they were all but worthless. It was just as well Poe wasn't around for dinner, there was little enough to eat for Rey alone. She used her finger to dab the last of the crumbs out of the little tin.

Suddenly there was a beeping on the horizon, Rey recognized it instantly as BB-8. She pulled off the helmet and burst into a run toward the sound of his frantic beeping.

"Beebee-ate? What are you doing here?" She crouched down beside him, "Where is Poe?"

BB-8 responded in a serious of beeps and whistles.

"A castle? On Jakku?" Rey interrupted, "Poe is in trouble?"

She looked over the top of BB-8, into the open desert. There was no sign of Poe, the little droid must have been right. She didn't waste any time.

In only a moment, she was climbing onto her speeder with a pack and following BB-8's directions to help Poe.

BB-8 was right, the castle was grotesque and foreboding. Rey couldn't remember anybody mentioning a castle on Jakku before.

The hopped off her speeder onto the dark walkway of the castle entrance. With a hesitant glance at BB-8 she proceeded to follow him toward the large castle doors.

She pushed the door open, "You wait out here, stay out of sight." She told BB-8.

BB-8 gave a soft wine from his speaker unit as she stepped into the castle without him.

It was dark and cool. She looked all around the large foyer but saw no signs of life, "Poe?" She called softly.

 _That would be too easy_ , she thought wistfully when there was no reply.

She pulled her blaster from the holster and kept it in front of her protectively. She walked through several rooms of the ground level, observing the decor and searching for signs of life.

One room appeared to be an elaborate sitting area with a enormous fireplace at one end. She noticed the two sofas sitting perpendicular to the fireplace. The setting had a definite romantic appeal.

Just as she was turning to go, she saw the red flash of a light saber igniting at the door. She fired toward the light saber without thinking or even taking in her opponent. There in the doorway, stepping out of the shadow was a masked man, dressed in black.

His beastly appearance was familiar and frightening at the same time, as if she had seen him in the dreams of her childhood.

The dark figure easily deflected her blasts. Rey paused and beheld him for a moment. He took another step closer. She frantically began firing again but to her dismay she found her body going ridged and her firing suddenly arm pinned down to her side, completely ineffective.

"The girl I've heard so much about. Why are you in my house, shooting at me? Where is the droid and what do you know about Luke Skywalker?" He stepped closer to her, lifting his gloved hand to her face. She winced as he grew closer seeming to read her very thoughts.

"I'm here for Poe Dameron." She answered, her voice quaking, "His droid said he was lost."

"He is my prisoner." The man answered, his voice inhumanly low.

"You must release him." She said more bravely than she felt, "I'll...I'll take his place," she stammered.

The man dipped his head in a single nod. Her vision faded to black and she felt herself start to fall.

As Rey lost consciousness, Kylo Ren stepped around her and effortlessly scooped her into his arms.

* * *

Author's note:

The Fireplace Room is, of course, modeled after the one where Anakin declared his love for Padme in Episode 2. Since Darth Vader's castle is the inspiration for Ben's Solo's cursed castle, I had some fun imagining how Anakin would have decorated. I kept thinking maybe he would recreate scenes from his life where he was happy or something important happened. So, we'll see what else shows up from the prequels!


	6. Interrogation

The room was dim, lit only by glowing wall sconces. Rey open her eyes slowly. She was sitting in a large chair placed in the center of the dark room. Her eyes focused on the black figure kneeling on the floor in front of her. His metal mask caught the light in a golden sheen.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're my guest." The modulated voice answered.

"Where is Poe?"

"You mean that traitorous thief you call a friend? You'll be relieved to know, I have no idea." He answered.

"You didn't even let me say goodbye." She looked away from him to scan the room once more.

"You still want to kill me." He said, his voice more curious than offended.

"That happens when you're being hunted by a beast in a mask."

The man stood to his feet, she surveyed him as he stood.

"Tell me what you know about Luke Skywalker, do you know where he is?" He asked, drawing closer to her.

Rey recoiled a bit into the softness of the large chair, "I've heard legends, that he brought down a Star Destroyer, but I don't know where he is."

He lifted his hand toward her face. She could feel him probing her thoughts. "So lonely, you feel like nobody understands you, everyone says you're different." He came closer, his face now only inches from hers. She wasn't afraid but she could sense the fear in him though she didn't understand how.

"You haven't seen the map. Don't be afraid, I feel it too." He told her, pulling away from her slightly. But suddenly he sensed her in his own thoughts

She glowered back at him, "You. You're afraid. You're afraid that you'll live out the rest of your days as Kylo Ren."

He moved away from her suddenly, turning his back to her, regaining his composure.

"I'll show you to your room."

"My room?" She asked, "but I thought..."

"Do you want to stay here?" He threw back at her.

The dark, severely cold room made her long for the warmth of the fireplace she had found before.

"No," she answered.

"Then follow me," the man said leaving the room without turning to see if she was coming.

Rey followed the cloaked man through an elaborate maze of halls and rooms, he walked with purpose, she noted. His gate was aggressive and he held his arms rigidly, away from his sides, as if he knew he must always be ready for anything. His gloved hands were clenched into fists. She couldn't tell if he was consumed by anger or regret but she had sensed enough to know he was afraid and volatile.

Finally, he opened the door to a grand room furnished pleasantly enough, it appeared quite comfortable to Rey. She stepped inside as he made way for her, feeling his nearness as she passed him in the doorway.

"I hope you'll be comfortable here," his modulated voice informed her. He looked into the hall a moment, as if listening to somebody Rey couldn't see or hear.

"You will join me for dinner." He said forcefully.

"No," Rey answered quickly. That was a bridge too far.

"That is not a request." His voice grew louder and he slammed the ornate door, leaving her alone inside and he, drenched in anguish, alone in the hall.

Rey sank down to the floor, her bravery slipping away as sadness and loneliness washed over her. She held her head in her hands as a tear escaped down her cheek.


	7. Maz's Tavern

Hux strode into Maz's Tavern, his cape blowing softly in his wake. Phasma entered just behind him as she usually did, immediately surveying the room for the best seats and clearing them of occupants in order to prepare a prime seating arrangement for Hux. Maz had never cared for them particularly, but she could do little to stop them, as they were paying customers.

Phasma jabbed Hux in the ribs with the elbow of her armor, earning her an irritated sigh from the man.

Undeterred however, Phasma raised her tinny, helmet-modulated voice into song...

 _Oh, it disturbs me to see you, General!_

 _You look so down in the dumps_

 _Everyone here'd love to be you, General!_

 _Even when taking your bumps_

 _There's no dealer in town as admired as you_

 _You own everyone's favorite booth_

Hux looked at her, his face was perturbed but she knew he really wanted her to continue.

 _No one's slick as you, Hux_

 _No one's tricky as you, Hux_

 _No one's booth is as incredibly quick as yours, Hux_ (Which was true, Hux insisted Phasma install the faster wheels a few seasons ago so they could take off if Unkar Plutt was roaming the market.)

 _For there's no man in town half as manly..._

She lifted her silver glove to ruffle his red hair but thought better of it.

 _You could ask any Tim, Rick, or Stanley!_

 _And they'll tell you whose team they'd prefer to be on..._

 _Who could part with you, Hux?_

 _Who breaks hearts like you, Hux?_

Unfortunately, this line seemed to make him remember his failure with Rey more than encourage him, so she stopped there and let the tune trail off.

The two had just settled down for a couple of beverages when Poe came bursting in.

"Help!" He shouted to anyone who would listen, "He's got Rey! He's got her locked in a dungeon!"

"Slow down, Poe," a townsperson rose from his seat and approached Poe, trying to give comfort but Poe would not be calmed.

"He's got her! I'm telling you, I need help!" He shouted again, pushing the man away and approaching another table.

From behind the bar Maz muttered under her breath, "That beast, he's here."

Hux looked at Phasma who tilted her chrome covered head slightly. Her mask never betrayed emotion, of course, but occasionally she would tilt her head like that and Hux could tell she was intrigued.

The folks in the tavern laughed Poe off and tossed him out into the sand on his back. Hux could see him scrambling to his feet in the sand bank through the window.

His voice was low, but Phasma could hear him start to sing.

 _The wheels in my head have been turning_

 _Since I looked at that looney fly-boy_

 _I promised today, I'd be married to Rey_

 _...Right now I'm designing a ploy!_

Slowly, Hux rose to his feet and strode to the door.

"All right, Poe, we'll help you." He said kindly, his pale face arranged into a most charming smile at the man brushed sand off his trousers.

Poe stopped for a moment to survey Hux, he'd always been somewhat fond of the man. In fact, he'd often wondered if perhaps the red-headed man would make a good match for Rey.

"Maybe he does care for her." Poe thought. He glanced at Phasma, she looked tall and strong, perhaps strong enough to take on that monster, Kylo Ren.

"Ok," he said turning, "I'll fly us there!"

"You don't have a ship," Hux reminded him, his tone gentle, but he cast a sideways glance at Phasma while he said it.

"Oh, right," Poe nodded, remembering, "we better take a speeder then."


	8. Dinner

Rey stood to her feet to examine the room more thoroughly.

The bed looked soft and comfortable enough. A large chest of drawers stood at one end of the room, she curiously opened each drawer to eye the contents.

Suddenly, the doors flung open. Rey braced herself, expecting Kylo Ren's menacing figure but instead finding a tea set riding a repulser cart into her room.

"Hello! Thought you might like a spot of tea!" A cheery voice said.

Rey looked all about, but the voice seemed to be coming from the cart, a speaker unit perhaps. She stepped closer, is this how he would deliver her meals since she refused to dine with him? Such an arrangement would not be unwelcome.

She reached for the tea cup.

"Hi!" A young man's voice came from the cup.

Rey gasped and caught herself before flinging the cup across the room. She looked down at the cup in her trembling hand.

"You can talk?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes, my dear." The teapot answered.

"The teapot too?" Rey whispered, breath escaping her lips in a slight moan.

"I'll help you get ready for dinner." The teapot offered, seemingly ready to change the subject.

"I'm not going to dinner, but thank you for the tea." Rey said, taking a sip from the pleasant cup. "Oh, a biscuit, that's nice." She picked up the small treat from the tray.

"Ohh," Rey said, "this is, quite good."

"Where are you from?" The teapot ask.

"Nowhere," the girl answered, "I'm a scavenger, I work for Unkar Plutt."

"Oh my," the teapot answered.

"What's your name?" Rey asked the little teacup.

"Finn," he answered, something in his face glowing.

"Finn," Rey pondered, looking at his little fish motive, "I'm Rey."

"I'm Leia," the kindly teapot introduced herself. "We need your help here, Rey. Kylo Ren isn't so bad once you get to know him."

"I need to go home." She said determinedly, shaking her head.

The cup nodded, "You got a boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?"

Rey looked at the cup, confused, she was going to answer when a loud bang sounded in the hall. Rey backed toward the window slightly, perhaps unconsciously.

"I said, you will join me for dinner!" The man shouted through his mask as he entered her room. His hand outstretched to her as it had been when he found her.

"I said no," she shouted back, finding her voice.

"We're not done yet," he growled. His voice was brimming with anger.

Rey glanced at the cup, the tiny object's face was screwed into a scowl.

"I'm not hungry." She said, her voice low and her syllables distinct. She realized the little bit of biscuit was still in her hand, betraying her words. She tossed it on the floor angrily.

The man pulled his light saber from the holster, Rey's eyebrows shot up. He was really serious about this dinner thing.

She looked around the room for an equally impressive weapon.

Nothing.

Her eyes landed on the fireplace poker, not fancy, but it could do the job.

She knew she could never reach it before he charged her if he was so inclined.

The man followed her gaze and seeing the makeshift weapon, reached out his hand toward it. Rey lifted her hand toward the poker, willing and hoping against hope it would come to her, though she had never seen a thing happen like that before. Poe's stories of Luke Skywalker filled her head and she pulled toward the poker will all her might.

It moved.

It shook.

It flew across the room, Kylo Ren ducked out of the way to avoid being hit as the weapon crossed him and landed in her outstretched hand. Her eyes grew wide.

She looked at the masked man.

"It is you." His voice was full of awe and wonder.

He took a step closer to her then. She lifted the poker as she would have raised her bow staff, unsure of the weapon. Was that an antique sword on the wall?

Blast!

Why hadn't she seen that earlier?

He tilted his head slightly as he stepped toward her, "You need a teacher," he spat the words at her, "I can show you the ways of the Force."

Something about that offer made her think of the boys in town that offered to teach her to speak Wookie but she always wondered if it was just a ploy so they could spend time with her. She held Kylo Ren steadily in her gaze.

Rey took a step closer to him, but he moved away, disengaging his light saber and stepping into the hall.

"Fine, rations it is then." He said quietly.


	9. Han and Chewbacca

Rey plopped down on the bed in a huff, frustrated and a little scared, though she would never have admitted that to anyone. She sat there for what felt like hours but the sound of a tiny set of footsteps resonating down the hall broke her trance. Her curiosity would not be denied.

She rose to her feet and crossed the room to the door. After the talking cup and tea pot earlier, she was convinced she would be surprised at nothing. Nevertheless, her eyes still grew wide when she saw a candelabra walking side by side with a mantle clock down the hall. She took a step back in the room, questioning her own sanity for only a moment before stealing another look.

The items were bickering. Rey was amused and even more curious to know what they could be arguing about.

"The master said rations, and rations it will be, we will not cross him, you know how he gets...lightsaber slashing the walls and the mess...I won't have it, I won't." The clock was resolute.

"Oh, don't be such a push over, your job is to ensure guests have a nice time. He can't keep you from doing the job he hired you to do." The candelabra shrugged.

"Look who is talking, if there was ever a sycophant in this castle, it was you."

Rey smothered a laugh at the clock's seething anger, but the two items caught her movement anyway and turned their attention to her then.

"You must excuse my friend, Chewie never used to be this way, he used to be fun, even when it just sounded like roars instead of all this fancy talk." The candelabra said with a flourish of his candlestick arm.

The clock bristled at this introduction.

"But now all he does is complain." The candelabra cast a side glance at the clock.

"What are your names?" Rey asked.

"I am Han, and my friend here, is Chewbacca."

"Yes, well now that introductions are done, I must point out that we have no permission to ameliorate your situation in any way." Chewbacca told her apologetically.

"As I mentioned earlier, sweetheart, you may have overheard, my son brought us to this place to care for his guests and that's just what we intend to do."

"Your son?" Rey asked, confused and incredulous.

"Then it is incumbent upon me to inform you that you may not go into the west wing." Chewbacca said, ignoring her question, finally resigned that he would lose this round with his counterpart.

"What's in the west wing?" Rey asked, stooping to look into their strange little faces.

"What west wing?" Han asked, pretending, albeit very badly, that he knew nothing of it.

"You are free to explore this lovely castle, all over the east wing, or as I like to call it, the only wing!" He laughed heartily at his own joke as Rey took him in with a raised eyebrow.

"Never mind all that," Han said, perhaps realizing his humor had fallen flat.

"You appear to be very much in need of good food," Chewbacca motioned for Rey to step into the hall, "even if this is a horrible idea that I am quite against, I'll have you know."

Rey followed Han down the hall as Chewbacca teetered less enthusiastically behind.

The dining hall was filled with delicious foods and delicacies Rey had never even known to dream about. Each taste was better than the last.

The candelabra climbed onto the table before her as she hungrily consumed every morsel.

A piano on the corner struck up a tune just as he waved a candlestick hand.

Be our guest

Get some rest

See our service is the best

Rey laughed, did she really look that tired? Maybe years of scavenging were taking their toll...

Han sang the catchy little tune for several minutes while she ate the delicious meal, to her amazement the dishes from the table joined in, often in perfect harmony while singing and dancing. It was truly an unexpected surprise.

She returned to her room, full and exhausted from the day's events, but she found she couldn't sleep. The bed was softer than anything she had ever felt before. In the end, she wound up sitting on the floor, staring into the hazy darkness of the large room.

oOo

Kylo Ren felt for Rey through the Force, she was sitting on the floor by the large window of the bedroom in which he had left her. Her legs were tucked up against her chest with her arms wrapped around herself protectively.

He set the datapad down slowly, considering she was more frightened than her spunky worlds betrayed. Guilt surged over him as he turned and ignited his lightsaber, knowing no better way to handle the strength of the emotions overcoming him in that moment.


	10. The West Wing

As she sat by the window in her room, Rey felt a saturation in the Force around her she didn't understand. There was a sudden heaviness in the air. She looked around, the room, looking for a source.

Then she saw him. The beast of a man. His clothes were the same, the black tunic of deeply texture material peeking out from underneath the ragged black cloak he wore. Except, instead of framing his black and silver lined mask, the cloak framed his face. He was human. She could see him but the vision was hazy, blurry somehow.

Kylo Ren met her eyes, realization passing over him that she was looking at him, meeting his eyes and not just staring at his angry black mask. , "You can see me?" He asked, disbelieving.

"Yes, you can see me?" She asked.

"Of course," he answered, "but do you see my mask or...or me?" He asked, taking an eager step toward her.

"It...it's you." She said not sure how to describe what she was seeing.

His hair was like that of a prince, wavy and full, framing his impossibly pale face. His eyes were dark and depthless, framed with equally dark lashes against his fair skin.

"How, how are you doing this?" He asked, "No, this can't be you." He shook his head, "The effort would kill you."

The vision faded around Rey as suddenly as it had begun and the air returned to normal.

Chewbacca's words about the west wing rang through her mind once more. She knew there was something there that could lead to her escape, she could tell by the overly eager way he had forbade her from entering.

The west wing, and whatever secrets it held, was her last hope.

When the servants were sure to be asleep, Rey crept through the darkened halls. The coldness of the floor seeped through her shoes as the night air of winter seemed to have settled so entirely on the place. The stairs leading to the west wing creaked slightly as she ascended, to her great dismay. She paused that the top, waiting for a coat stand or something to pop out and tell her she wasn't allowed there, but all was still.

She trekked farther into the wing, passing door after door down the hall, a few of them propped open, but none seemed unique or special in any way.

Finally, at the end of the hall, she could see a light, a strange contrast to the eerie darkness that penetrated the rest of the wing.

The hall opened into a large mezzanine, on the wall hung a ripped painting. She had never seen a painting in person before, only read of them in books.

She couldn't fathom being so careless as to allow one to be ruined. She stepped closer, lifting the canvas gently. The burned edges of each slash indicated that it had been sliced mercilessly with a lightsaber. But enough was left of the textured canvas to see that it bore the images of a beautiful woman with chestnut brown hair and soft, girlish features. A man with rugged, imperfectly handsome looks sat beside her and a young boy stood before them. He was a mixture of their images but more in essence than appearance. Presumably, the painting portrayed a mother and father and a their son.

The son looked unmistakably like the man she had seen in her vision. If that's what it was, she didn't know what to call it, really.

The image of a family captured her though, having never known the love and familiarity of her parents. Poe was the closest thing to a family she had and it didn't appear she would ever see him again now.

If this boy in the painting was Kylo Ren, what had happened to him? How did he become the monstrous beast he was, roaming his cursed castle of talking household goods?

She stepped farther into the large, open room, leaving the painting and crossing to a round table. The table was bare except for a floating rose. Rey found herself filled with curiosity at the thing. Not so much that it was floating, because after a few days of talking nicknacks such things couldn't phase her, but he fact that this beautiful thing was kept there in that horrid place, preserved for safety in a glass case.

Rey touched the glass with her finger tips, it was smooth and cold. She stooped to examine it more closely.

"You should not have come here!" The angry voice boomed from behind her and she felt a rage pounding into the Force around her.

"I'm sorry, I was just curious." She turned to face Kylo Ren, "I didn't disturb anything." She managed to say.

"Get out!" He shouted, "Do you know what you could have done?"

Rey gasped at the power of his anger laced with agony. It was the strongest thing she had ever felt.

Without stopping to think, she ran past him, out of the mezzanine, through the hall, and down the stairs. She blasted through the doors of the castle out into the blackness of the night. Her speeder was still parked on the pad in front of the door. She deftly jumped into the seat and twisted the grips into gear. Without looking back, she raced out into the night.


	11. Snoke

Cold wind blew through Rey's hair as she sped through the desert night. Jakku was always hot during the day but nights were cool most seasons of the solar year and viscously cold other times.

Once or twice, the breeze hit her so hard the speeder slid sideways off the path. She could feel her hair ties loosen and fly free into the night.

With her hair whipping her face, she fought against the wind to maintain her course. Without BB-8 she knew finding her way home would be difficult but not impossible. She remembered certain landmarks along the way from her fateful journey to the cursed castle.

Suddenly, she was soaring into the air.

The gust that flipped her speeder and sent her flying was stronger than anything she had ever encountered riding around the desert scavenging for parts. It was as if her speeder had been walloped by an enormous hand and tossed on its side.

She hit the ground in the middle of a round patch of land surrounded by the red glare reflection of light from the lava surrounding the land.

"Come closer, child."

Rey sat up, rubbing her head, feeling for wounds, initially ignoring the voice that called to her.

She felt a tiny cut on her forehead that seemed to be hurting worse than was warranted. In irritation, she wiped the blood with her sleeve.

"Come closer." The voice came again, hissing and with more power. She could not ignore it this time, she looked about her.

A haggard, disgusting figure appeared from the shadows at far the end of the large opening. She realized it was a tall, thin man approaching her. He had an entourage with him.

A pack of red-eyes wolves followed him into the sandy circle rimmed in the red glow. With an order uncommon to canines, the wolf pack separated into two halves, with one half splitting to Rey's left and the other to her right. The strange man remained fixed before her.

Rey felt her heartbeat quicken as she realized she was surrounded.

* * *

The coldness of the steering wheel seeped through the leather gloves covering Kylo Ren's hands as he sat in the pilot seat of his small craft. Rey had run so fast through the castle ahead of him. He was slowed by the weight of his own emotions but he was certain he would be able to find her with the sensors on his ship.

He had confidently strode to his ship as she raced out into the night on her hulking speeder. He picked her up on sensors after gaining some altitude as he flew in the direction of the nearest settlement. Effortlessly, he guided the ship toward her, the speeder was no match for his ship.

A light on the sensor panel started blinking, he pushed the button to open the display. Multiple life forms were headed in Rey's direction.

A familiar voice started talking quietly in his mind.

"Very good, you have sent her to me."

Kylo Ren felt his body tense as the realization of those words set in. The hissing, gravely voice that taunted his dreams.

Snoke.

Rey was headed straight toward Snoke and his minions. A well of emotions formed inside Kylo Ren. He knew if he allowed Snoke to intercept Rey on his own, he would either curse her or worse, skip the game and kill her. He also knew, the magic of the rose would be broken if anything happened to Snoke, and his own fate would be sealed in the blink of an eye.

The bargaining stage of his thought process lasted only a moment. Perhaps he could simply intercede for her with Snoke.

No.

There would not be a way to talk Snoke out of whatever he had planned for his newest prey. He had nothing to offer Snoke that the creature had not already stolen from him. In the same instant, Kylo Ren knew he had to try. The girl was innocent and young and had no place in Snoke's world. She did not deserve to be a pawn in one of his sick games.

Without another thought he pushed the lever on the console in front of him forward to increase his speed while simultaneously reaching his hand to his holster, verifying his lightsaber was tucked in its usual place. There was no time to make a plan.

He set the ship down just behind Rey. Snoke and his wolves already surrounded her.


	12. The Offer

The sound of Kylo Ren's ship pounded into Rey's ears. He landed just at the edge of the clearing, entering the wide circle just behind her as she faced the haggard, drawn figure dressed in a gaudy golden robe.

While Kylo Ren's appearance had always caused trepidation in her heart before, she found her feeling toward him somewhat welcoming as he strode purposefully down the gangplank of his ship, hands clinched into fists. Rey noticed his usual cape was nowhere to be seen.

"Kylo Ren," the creature cooed, "thank you so much for bringing her to me," he said, motioning toward Rey. He pulled a lightsaber from the belt of his robe and casually placed it beside him on an old tree stump.

"Snoke." The word was the only reply Kylo Ren offered.

The creature he called Snoke smiled demurely.

Rey glanced between the two, feeling quite as if she had delivered herself into this situation and Kylo Ren was taking credit unduly. He had indeed scared her into running from the castle, that she admitted to herself.

Rey took a step back, increasing the distance between Snoke and herself and closing the distance with Kylo Ren as he continued to slowly enter the circle. The glow from the lava around them continued to spray an uneven red glare around the edges of the circle.

"Did you think I wouldn't see your plan? I brought her to your castle. Would a star pilot of the resistance really get lost on a planet like Jakku?" Snoke sneered at Rey as she stopped, having moved back as far as she dared. Kylo Ren was only a step behind her.

"You will kneel." Snoke said, and suddenly Rey felt a wave pass through the Force around her as Kylo Ren fell to his knees.

"You," Snoke turned his gaze to Rey.

"You are just finding your connection to the Force, so it was especially easy to bridge your minds once you met." Snoke hissed.

Rey remembered seeing Kylo Ren without his mask in the vision, it must have been the bridge this foul creature had created.

"After all the fun I have had with Ben Solo, turning him into this...monster." He paused.

Rey's mind seized onto the name of Ben Solo.

"What fun masks are, perhaps you would like one too, my child?" With those words, Rey felt herself being lifted from her feet and pushed into the air above Kylo Ren.

Rey imagined this was how he must have come to be his current prison. She guessed her fate was sealed, as his was.

Her body was frozen with pain, intense and palpable. She screamed in agony, willing herself to hold in the shrieking but finding the effort beyond her ability.

Without warning, Snoke dropped her back to the ground.

"You can place me in a mask, but you'll never turn me into a monster." She spat the words at him as her energy returned. She breathed deeply, trying to regain some semblance of strength.

Kylo Ren didn't move from his place on one knee. As soon as she was on her feet Snoke was pulling her toward himself, only stopping her inches from him.

"Such spunk. You will serve me only one way, I see." Snoke sneered. He spun her around and pushed her through the Force back to Kylo Ren, planting her on her knees, locked onto an invisible floor beneath her, inches above the ground, just before Kylo Ren. He slowly stood to his feet.

"Kill her." Kylo Ren looked down at Rey. Her eyes were filling with unbidden tears she wouldn't allow to fall. She couldn't read his expression or meet his eyes behind that blasted mask.

Snoke snickered somewhere behind her as she stared at the masked man above her.

"Kill her and you shall have your freedom, child."

At this, Kylo Ren's head lifted. No longer taking in Rey's image, he looked at Snoke.

"Yes," Snoke hissed, "The curse will be lifted. Simply prove your allegiance to me."

Kylo Ren looked down again. Rey stared at him, imagining the eyes of the boy in the painting under the mask. The face of the man she had seen in the vision only briefly, flashed through her mind as she stared into the blackness.

"Ben," she whispered.

Snoke burst into outright laughter behind her.

"You think you can turn him? I just offered him his freedom, child, he won't pass it up."

Kylo Ren raised the ignited lightsaber toward her. She wanted to flinch, to close her eyes and let her tears fall unheeded. But she never took her eyes off Kylo Ren's mask.

The red glow of his cracklings saber illuminated the space between them.

"Kill her and free yourself."

Suddenly, Rey heard a lightsaber ignite behind her and she fell to the ground in a heap as the forces suspending her broke. She clamored to her knees, turning to face Snoke, but his body lay haphazardly strewn about in two halves. The lightsaber that had so skillfully dispatched him landed neatly in her own hand.

Suppressing a gasp, she turned back to Kylo Ren, gripping the lightsaber in her trembling fingers.

He extended his gloved hand towards her, which she accepted without hesitation. Wordlessly, he pulled her to her feet and they faced each other for just a moment as each noticed the movement coordinating around them. Moving as one, they turned their backs to each other, igniting their light sabers.

Together, they faced the wolves.


	13. The Wolves

Rey held the lightsaber that had just passed through the vile creature's body. She had fought for years using her bow staff and this weapon felt light in her hand by comparison but also deft and powerful.

She could feel Kylo Ren close behind her, watching the fanged, red-eyed wolves moving toward him, she could hear his breathing. She felt his fear through the Force as he gathered it around him and used it to center his attention.

"Stay focused," she felt him tell her, she wasn't sure how she heard him, it wasn't debilitating like when he's tried to probe her mind, it was just there, as if he'd spoken the words aloud, "I have your back."

The first set of wolves approached her, she struck out at them with her saber, slashing the first easily but striking the second fanged monster with only a glancing blow.

Kylo Ren was shoving a set of two wolves away behind her, using his forearm and his saber in unison. A wolf fell incapacitated at their side.

A set of three more wolves began to charge her, Rey immediately began running through her options. She knew her saber would only reach one at best, being unsure of the unfamiliar weapon. Kicking one back was her only chance, but that still left a third wolf unbridled and lunging for her. She looked back at Kylo Ren, knowing he was her only hope.

Without a word passing between them, in only a single glance, he knew her plan.

Rey reached for him while centering herself at the middle wolf. Kylo Ren slashed at the attacking monster in front of him and in the same swing, Force pushed one of the wolves rushing at Rey while supporting her kick as she braced herself against his powerful frame. It was perfect harmony and strength in one robust move. In a flash, they were separate again, darting around leaping wolves and striking with their sabers against gnashing teeth and claws. The wolves were muscular and strong, defenders of a dead leader with nothing left to lose.

Rey would have never expected Kylo Ren to fight with the grace and power he exhibited, she felt him watching her from across the clearing as she separated from him, pulling the strongest wolves to himself, attracting their ire and hatred. She cut through two creatures easily but screamed in pain as a third sliced her arm with its wild claws. Kylo Ren paused for a moment, looking her way, she could feel the intensity grow in the Force around him.

He fought the wild animals with growing anger, each red-eyed creature seeming stronger than the last. Kylo Ren struck one large wolf through with his lightsaber but was caught from behind by another jumping toward him. The creature landed atop him, its weight and strength toppled Kylo Ren to the ground and sent his lightsaber skidding away. Rey heard his helmet hit the stone ground beneath him. She flinched, hoping his head was protected inside that hideous mask. Kylo Ren raised himself slowly as she struck the last wolf before her. He was caught by his throat in the fangs of the wild eyed creature that had tackled him. Kylo Ren was facing her, helpless and bleeding.

Rey knew in that instant she could have let the creature kill him. One lone wolf would have been an easy fight for her. She could have taken Kylo Ren's ship and sped off toward home, scooping up Poe and racing off into the stars, never to return to the forsaken planet of Jakku.

But even as that knowledge pounded into her mind, she tossed the lightsaber toward him shouting as loud as she could to get his attention, "Ben!"

He caught the saber and ignited it in the same motion, the beam striking the animal through the head. Instantly, Kylo Ren was free but instead of rising to his feet he sat a moment, looking her way and then slumped down into the ground beside the dead wolf.

"No," Rey cried, moving to him. She paused as the glow from his ship caught her eye. She took a step toward it.

Freedom.

But she knew that without Kylo Ren, Snoke would have killed her, or cursed her, and even if she had found a way to beat him, the wild, red-eyed wolves would have torn her to shreds without Kylo Ren's help. The eyes of the man in the vision pierced her soul. She turned back to him, closing the distance to where he lay.

She knelt beside him, suddenly afraid she would find him already gone, but he was breathing.

Rey touched his rubbed sleeve hesitantly, "Can you hear me?" She asked him.

She thought she heard the slightest of groans.

"You have to help me get you to the ship." She said just above a whisper.

The man groaned again, a little louder.

Slowly, she helped him to his feet, and carefully, she guided him to his ship.


	14. Search

Poe slowed his speeder over the wispy sand. Hux caught his motion and pulled to a stop beside him, "Problem...again?" He asked, his clipped accent prominent.

"I could have sworn it was this way," Poe's voice drifted off as he gazed into the open desert, not a single sign of life in view.

Poe looked down at the instrument panel of his speeder, he was dangerously low on fuel.

"I have to head back to the village, I need fuel unless the Force is going to carry me farther." His voice was full of despair.

Hux scoffed, "There is no such thing as the Force."

"Of course the Force is real." Poe's eyes grew wide as he took in Hux and Phasma, he was irritated once again that he couldn't read the woman's expression through her chrome helmet.

"Look, are you sure Rey isn't back at that AT-AT you two call home waiting with your dinner?" Hux groaned.

"I told you over and over, she has been captured by a beast!" Poe was shouting then, his frustration unable to be contained.

"Shut up, you fool." Hux waved his hand at him dismissively, distracted by the sand on his uniform.

"Why did you agree to help me?" Poe asked, surveying the general again, eyes suddenly awakening to the man's true nature.

"Because, I want to marry your roommate!" Hux shouted, suddenly annoyed.

Poe shook his head, "Rey will never marry you." His voice was dark, he was sure about Hux then.

Hux dismounted his speeder and crossed the width of sand between them reaching for Poe by the collar of his shirt. He dragged Poe from the speeder by brute force and slugged him across the jaw before Poe could react.

"Hey!" Poe shouted raising his arm protectively in front of his face before another blow could reach him. He scrambled to his feet, ready to fight.

Hux raised his blaster, "I will marry Rey."

Poe's eyes grew wide as he raised his hands in surrender.

Phasma stepped closer to him, "General, we're wasting time here."

Hux nodded and regretfully holstered his blaster. He swung a leg over his speeder but as he turned the handles to engage the engine nothing happened.

"What is this?" Hux shouted. His eyes were bugging out more than they usually did from his impossibly pale face.

Phasma strode to his side, "It seems you are out of fuel." Hux jumped off the speeder and angrily kicked a cloudy of sand into it.

"Fine," he growled.

Poe jumped to his feet as he realized what Hux intended to do.

"No, you can't!" He yelled at the red haired man but the blaster was already pointed back in his face.

"Poe, I'm sorry we couldn't work something out, for Rey's sake anyway." Hux scoffed once and then he was gone, flying over the desert on Poe's speeder, Phasma following dutifully behind him, not even bothering to glance back.

Poe looked out into the open desert. There was a tiny hut in the distance. He didn't know if he could make it on foot in the heat, but he didn't have another option.

Hours seemed to pass as Poe trudged toward the small hut, once or twice he even began to wonder if it was a mirage. A buzzing sound caught his ear, quiet at first. Distant.

The sound grew steadily louder until he realized it was a speeder. Poe spun in the sand in the direction of the noise.

A man dressed in robes like a Jedi was gliding toward him.

Poe dropped to his knees. If the man was a trader he would offer whatever the man wanted in order to gain passage to habitable land. A scavenger would also be an easy negotiation. Anything more savage than that would pose a problem.

The speeder pulled in close to Poe.

Slowly, the man lifted his hood back, away from his face. Poe noticed the light glimmering off the man's one mechanical hand.


	15. Healing

Kylo Ren gasped for air like he was fighting his way out of water as he struggled to sit up. Rey could hear his rasping breaths coming through his mask. His arms waved wildly in front of him.

She leapt across the room to the bed where his disoriented movements threatened all the field level medical work she had done. Unsure he could see her or even hear her, she reached for him, one hand covering his and the other pushing his shoulder back into the bed. His injuries were just starting to heal and sitting up wouldn't help any of the stitches she had placed in his neck from the wolf's vicious bite.

"It's ok," she said, as calmly as she coax her voice into being.

He seemed to relax fractionally.

"Where are we?" He asked shaking his head slightly to orient himself.

"We're back at your castle." She answered keeping her voice even.

He head spun to her then, "You brought me home? You...you came back?"

She nodded slowly, "I made a bargain." She said quietly.

His head turned away from her again. She wondered if she would have seen shame written there if it weren't for the horrible mask.

"I'll let you rest," she said as she backed away carefully, "you have some stitches so don't make any sudden movements."

"It hurts." He said, his voice grumpier than she would have expected.

"If you'd hold still it wouldn't hurt as much." She responded, unapologetic.

"If you hadn't run away..." he began, but thought better of it, remembering Snoke's severed body. He hadn't seen the rose yet, maybe there was still some hope left, although he knew he was as far as ever from making anybody love him. Clearly, the curse wasn't lifted by Snoke's demise, he'd held little hope that it would be, the old creature was powerful and devious.

Rey was oblivious to his inner thoughts though, instead hanging on his words about her having run away. She pondered silently.

As if reading her thoughts, Kylo Ren grumbled, "You shouldn't have been in the west wing."

Rey's ire was raised at his admonishment. "Well..." she sputtered, "you should learn to control your temper!"

He stayed silent, letting her anger dissipate into the room around them.

Rey wanted to rage on at him longer, but she also felt horrible about shouting at the man who had only hours before saved her life from Snoke. She took a deep, fortifying breath.

"Just, let it heal." She whispered as she turned to leave the room.


	16. Truth

Rey was wandering through the halls of the castle her eyes taking in details she had missed before. So much had apparently changed when Snoke cursed Ben but she couldn't be sure what had stayed as it had been. Her hand traced over the frame of a painting on the wall. It was a scene of a tree lined lake. There were chairs set up in front, and a hazy outline of children splashing in the water.

"You're up early." She heard his voice clear and unmodulated by his mask. It was deep and resonated around her. She had been so absorbed in the painting that she hadn't felt the air grow heavy around her as the Force connected them.

She looked over her shoulder. He was standing there, his dark brown eyes boring into hers.

"Where are you?" She asked, unable to break her gaze from his eyes even though she knew it would be wise.

"The west wing," he answered simply, "why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep," she shook her head, still unable to take her eyes off him.

"Have you ever tried reading to fall back asleep?" He asked.

"I read the few books I have so often that I have them memorized."

His face looked quizzical and curious but the connection faded before Ben could respond.

Rey turned toward the west wing, wondering what it would be like to see him then, but the memory of the last time she had ventured into the west wing still stung in her mind. She didn't regard him as the dangerous, vile monster she had taken him for when she first entered the castle, but she remained unsure of his character.

Just then she heard a clock strike seven times. The chime was followed by a grumpy sounding cough and grunt. Rey knew she must have found Chewbacca's resting place for the night. She rounded the doorway into the dimly lit room and spotted him sitting on the mantle.

"Good morning," she greeted him, avoiding too much gaiety. Not everyone was a morning person.

"Good morning, my dear," he answered, the hands on his face spinning as he spoke.

"I have a question," she began timidly.

"I may have answer," he replied, "but I may not be permitted to give it."

"What is the flower in the west wing?" Rey asked.

"The rose?" Chewbacca looked around, ascertaining they were indeed alone.

"Yes, under the glass case." She nodded.

"It's a souvenir from Snoke, I'm grieved to say." Chewbacca answered, "Each petal that falls brings Ben Solo closer to being permanently trapped as Kylo Ren."

"And the rest of you?" Rey lowered her face closer to his.

Chewbacca just shook his head sadly in reply.

"I wish I could help," she told him.

But it was Leia that answered, surprising Rey at the door. "It's not your responsibility, my dear girl. We made our bed, and now we must lie in it." Leia's precious teapot form entered the room on her repulser cart.

"What happened here?" Rey asked quietly as she watched Han enter the room behind Leia. "I'm sorry, is it painful to talk about?" Rey stammered, "We don't have to-"

"Is that what you think? That I don't want to be reminded of him? That I want to forget him?" Leia shook her head, "I want him back."

Han shook his candlestick head, "He's gone Leia. There is nothing we could have done to stop it, no matter how hard we tried."

Leia sighed, exasperated, "That's why I wanted him to train with Luke."

Rey sucked in a breath, that name kept coming up.

"Luke Skywalker?" she asked.

Leia nodded, "My brother, he was a Jedi. I thought he could train Ben, and he would never have fallen victim to people like..." She stopped herself, "I never should have sent him away, that's when I lost him."

Han bent a candlestick arm around Leia's little teapot form. "We've lost our son, forever."

Leia pushed him back adamantly insisting, "No, it was Snoke!"

Han nodded, he always took much of the blame for his son's behavior on himself.

"Is there nothing I can do?" Rey asked softly.

Han and Leia looked up at her as if suddenly remembering she existed.

Leia shook her head, "No, but there is still good in him. I know there is."

Rey nodded, she had felt it too. His actions during the fight with the wolves had shown as much anyway. He could have easily let her die, there was no reason to save her from Snoke. She felt again the compassion toward her that had emanated from him in that moment.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," she said quietly to the little group before her as she passed into the hall lost in thought.


	17. Skywalker

Poe Dameron could feel the sun's rays beating down on him before he opened his eyes. The sand seeping into his clothes and coating itself on his skin was at once familiar and annoying. He forced his eyes to focus as he looked around the place where he lay. Nothing looked familiar.

Then he remembered.

He bolted upright, and shoved the rough cover away from him.

"Master Luke," he addressed the man enjoying the shade of his tent, drinking a tall glass of blue milk, "The sun is up, we should get going, we have to find Rey. Kylo Ren, that monster, he has her. Sir, I need you help, I've been looking for you a long, long time. But, never mind that now...Sir, I need your help for my friend."

Luke Skywalker turned to look at him then, "You didn't say yesterday, when you were going on and on about your friend and wanting to search for her in the dark, you never said who you are?"

"I'm Poe Dameron,"he answered.

Luke Skywalker nodded, "Well, son, I don't typically leave these parts. Feel free to take my speeder to help your friend though."

"But sir," Poe pleaded, "For year's the Resistance searched for you, I looked everywhere. I could really use your help now."

"Where are you from?" Skywalker inquired.

Poe shook his head, seeing it was useless, "Nowhere, I'm from nowhere. Do you have any fuel here?" He walked over and started inspecting the speeder.

Skywalker pointed at a tank.

Poe nodded, "Thanks."

* * *

Rey finally mustered the courage to creep into the west wing again. She found Kylo Ren sleeping on a sofa, his head positioned in such a way as to let his stitches heal without placing pressure on them.

She was amazed at how relaxed he looked with all the tension out of his body. His normally ridged form was curled into the soft couch.

Rey quietly took a seat in a chair across from him with her datapad in her hand. Something about his sleeping presence made her want to stay near him. She settled into to reading for what could have been an hour.

Finally, he stirred. Rey immediately started second guessing the wisdom of even being in the west wing, let alone sitting near him when he was resting. What had she been thinking? Maybe she could slip out before he was fully awakened.

She stood to her feet and began tip toeing out of the room.

"Don't go," he said, "please, stay. Your presence is soothing."

Rey frozen place, and finally dared to look back. He had made no effort to leave the couch, but she could tell he was watching her.

Slowly, she returned to her seat.

"Do you want me to read aloud to you?" She asked timidly.

"Please," he said quietly.


	18. The Library

Kylo Ren's wound healed a little more each day, but after initial time when Rey read aloud to him, she found herself and in the west wing with increasing frequency. She would sit by his side as he grew stronger day by day. At last, he was sitting up, and she felt it was really just the two of them enjoying each other's company, but neither was willing to admit that.

After finishing her third and final book, she looked up somewhat sadly at Kylo Ren, "That's it, that's all I have." She waved the datapad in her hand slightly, suddenly realizing she had no good reason to be sitting with him anymore. Fearing the awkward silence, she knew she should excuse herself. She stood to her feet and mumbled a few words about having promised Finn something

"You're just about back on your feet anyway," she smiled brightly, again wondering if she would ever see his face again, his deep brown eyes.

"Rey, I thought maybe you would like to..." Kylo Ren began, pushing himself slowly, carefully out of the chair he was resting in. "I have something I want to show you."

Rey tilted her head, watching the light glistening off his shiny, black mask.

"Ok," she whispered.

He nodded, and led the way out of the room, motioning with his gloved hand for her to follow him.

In the hallway, Rey noticed Han waiting as Kylo Ren passed him. Han nodded sadly at Kylo Ren as he passed him by without even acknowledging Han's presence in return. Rey glanced at Han curiously, but he just smiled sadly and waved his nubby candlestick hands in a motion that could only mean for her to go ahead follow Kylo Ren.

She frowned slightly as struggled slightly to keep up with Kylo Ren through a series of grander and grander hallways. His long strides weren't easily matched by her shorter legs.

Kylo turned to face her at last, his low, modulated voice filtered through his mask. "Are you ready?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of the double doors.

"Yes," she nodded curiously raising her eyebrow at him, he was being very mysterious.

He flung open the heavy, ornate doors. Rey followed him inside, full of wonder.

"This is my library," he told her.

Rey looked around the elaborate room, beautiful reading chairs and a table to sit and study, an elegant lamp that waved at her as she walked by...then she saw it. The most glorious shelf of books.

"These are the sacred Jedi texts." He said moving to stand beside them.

Rey imagined him glowing with pride inside his mask.

"They used to belong to my uncle, Luke Skywalker." He said, his voice rather low and depressed.

"Luke Skywalker?" She asked, glancing at him, but he offered no reply.

"I've never seen actual books before...The books make you sad? Why?" she asked.

He moved away slightly, maybe surprised at her insight, "I suppose I didn't read them as closely as I should have," he admitted, "maybe if I had, I wouldn't have ended up like...well, like this." He motioned to his mask, and held his gloved hands up for her to see. She reached toward him for a moment, touching the black leather gloves lightly with her fingers for just a moment before smiling warmly and passing him to pick up a book from the knotted, wooden shelf.

Rey sighed and looked around the room, noticing more books stacked in a less ornate shelf by the window, she walked over the traced them lightly with the tips of her fingers.

"Do you like it?" he asked her, so vulnerably she felt he might break if she said no.

She smiled at him, "Yes, I like it." She whispered.

"Then it's yours," he said quietly.

Her eyebrows raised, "Are you sure? Really?" She looked at him in shock and then around the room again in wonder.

"I'm sure," his voice was low.

"Thank you, Ben," she said.


	19. The Touch

Rey was sitting outside in the castle gardens taking some time to dry off after a swim. She had just come back from a calm pool in a nearby cave. She must have hit her head when she jumped in, because she had seen visions when she climbed out that had left her shaken. She had seen herself and what briefly appeared to be Kylo Ren, before he faded into yet another image of her.

A porg landed next to her, gazing at her with large, innocent eyes when there was a sudden, unmistakable heaviness in the Force around her. The sound of the wind faded away as silence permeated her surroundings. She turned to find him.

"Rey," ben's voice echoed like waves into her ears.

"Ben," she gripped the bench under her fingers a little tighter, his mask was removed and his hands were free from the black gloves that seemed to serve only to cut him off from the world around him.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"Outside, in the garden, can you see my surroundings?" She wondered.

"No," his voice grew softer, "It's just you."

Rey felt a little of her animosity toward him melt at his words, or maybe his tone, or maybe it was his eyes when he said it. She really wasn't sure.

"It's a nice day outside, you should come out," she offered.

His eyebrows raised slightly, the slightest glimmer of something light shown in his eyes. Rey thought it looked something like hope.

His dark, wavy hair blew softly in the breeze, like he was there, really there. He sat down on the bench beside her, or at least, the image of him did.

"You're all wet," he observed her hair, loosened from its usual ties by the water.

"You're not wearing a mask," she noted.

"I don't know why it doesn't show like this," he shook his head, suddenly seeming shy that she could see his face.

She smiled softly at his self-consciousness.

"The Force shows what you really are," she said quietly.

"Maybe," was his only answer, but his eyes held a tiny spark.

Rey was silent a moment, observing him carefully.

Ben broke the silence, "Where were you swimming?"

"There was a cave," She motioned in the general direction.

Ben lifted his head in understanding, "That can be a dangerous area."

Rey nodded, "I think I hit my head, I saw the strangest things. It was like I was in a cavernous hall, I knew it was leading somewhere, it couldn't go in forever...in the end it was just me, like normal, people at home think I'm different. But this was so much deeper, I have never felt so alone in my life."

Ben leaned infinitesimally closer, "You're not alone."

Rey looked into his deep brown eyes, watching her so earnestly, so openly, "Neither are you."

His lips formed a soft pout at her words, Rey thought he must have felt himself to be the very definition of alone.

Rey leaned closer to him still, the wrap covering her bare shoulders slipped down a bit despite how she held it tight with one hand.

He watched her, still and wide-eyed as she lifted her free arm toward him, offering her hand.

Slowly, nervously he reached for her, his trembling fingers outstretched toward Rey.

Rey waited, her hand steady and calm, aching to feel his skin against hers until at last he touched her.

Rey felt electricity spark between them like a live wire on one of her scavenged parts that was still hooked up to an old battery. She took in a sharp breath in surprise.

His eyes widened and she could hear his deep intake of breath.

Suddenly, her mind held an image, the two of them together, standing side by side, no more mask, no more prisoners. Just love.


	20. The Dance

Rey pulled her hand away, shocked by the intensity of her own emotions. She fought to calm her shaking breaths.

"Rey," Kylo's voice was pleading even as it projected through the modulation feature of his mask.

"I'm sorry, I…" she shook her head, wondering if he had seen anything similar to the vision that had just streaked through her mind but too scared to ask. She was simultaneously afraid he would say yes and terrified he would say no.

He leaned closer to her, perhaps trying to regain the intimacy of the moment before.

"Let me train you." He said quietly.

"Train me?" she responded without understanding his words.

"With a lightsaber, you need to be trained to use it properly," he answered, motioning with his arm to the castle.

She followed him into the large, empty ballroom, suddenly unable to know what to do with her eyes. If she looked at him she couldn't stop thinking about the vision and when she looked away she felt like he would easily read her awkward discomfort. Her mind still pounded with the burdensome curiosity that wondered if he had had a vision of them as well.

"You would do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course," he answered simply.

Training with the lightsaber was initially as awkward as she felt still in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know where to stand. Everywhere she stood seemed too close, and absurdly far from him at the same time. It was useless trying to learn like this, she told herself as she fumbled the stances he showed her once again.

She was afraid he would become impatient with her but his tone never wavered from the soft, gentleness with which he began.

"Rey," he said her name and all she could see was his deep brown eyes of the vision, capturing her and holding her in place, "let me show you." He began to reach for her but paused, unsure. She looked up at him silently, cursing the hideous black mask again and again in her mind, but nodding just the same, willing him the confidence she didn't feel yet herself.

Kylo placed one hand on her waist, and one on her arm. His voice was soft as he repeated the names each form again as he guided her gently through each one again. Rey's heart felt like it would beat out of her chest, the last thing she was capable of was remembering some fighting poses while the heat from his hand passed through his glove to the skin on her arm. Nevertheless she complied, diligently performing each swing of the saber and maneuvering as deftly as she could, while attempting to focus on the Force and not how near to her he stood.

Finally, with the last form, he swung her in a circle, to face him as an opponent, but so close, much too close. Rey reached up to touch his mask, unable to stop herself any longer.

"Why, why did this happen to you, why are you like this?" she whispered, "How did Snoke-"

"I made mistakes," he said, his voice suddenly course. Seeing the effect his words had on her, he shook his head regretfully, reaching his gloved hands toward her once again only to see her shrink back, away from his touch.

"I was driven by pride and loathing and…" he lowered his head, "it's hard to explain but Snoke saw through all of it, all of me and used my own dark tendencies to entrap me."

"There's still hope, I'll help you." Rey let the tears fall down her cheeks unheeded.

Kylo reached his gloved hand to her cheek, wiping her tears away gently. His voice was low and soft. He drew a breath, willing the Force to lend him strength. "You can go, Rey."

Rey's breath hitched in her throat, "What?"

"You're free to go." He said again, lowering his hand from her cheek, letting his finger trace her jaw as his hand dropped away, "you don't have to stay here anymore."

"You really mean that," Rey whispered. It wasn't a question, this man never lied to her.

"Take my ship, go find your friend and fly away…anywhere in this galaxy you want to go," he slowly turned from her, as if the strength required to watch her leave was more than he possessed.

"What about you?" She asked.

He laughed a mirthless sound, "What need have I for a ship?"

Rey bit her lip and nodded, looking away, the lure of freedom pulling at her, "Alright." She said the word even as something broke inside her. She picked up the lightsaber that lay on the floor beside him but couldn't bring herself to look into that metal mask again.

Then she was gone, running through the dark, cold castle gathering what few belongings she had brought with her that fateful night.

Kylo Ren could see her lowering the gangplank onto his ship, from the castle steps where he stood watching her. She waited for the door to lower completely and stood, staring into the open ship for a moment, seeming suddenly unsure.

"Look back," he whispered, "Look back at me."

But Rey climbed the gangplank and disappeared into the ship without even a backwards glance. Seconds later the ship was lifting into the air and flying into the eastern sky. Kylo exhaled slowly, looking down to his gloved hand where her tears still lay wet upon his glove.


	21. Kill the Beast

Rey punched in the coordinates for her AT-AT home on the outskirts of Niima Outpost. The controls were sleek and extremely intuitive. Compared to the scavenged simulators Poe had trained her with for years, this ship was the height of luxury.

There was no guarantee Poe would be home, of course, but Rey couldn't think where else he would be. The man could barely prepare a ration pack by himself, what if he hadn't eaten since she'd left? Although he always seemed to feel the need to be in charge; Rey smiled faintly to herself, even in her emotional turmoil, remembering the time Poe had thrown the biggest fit, simply because she wouldn't tell him the plan for dinner.

She noticed the comm unit on the controls then. Quickly, she hailed BB-8's internal comm device. With any luck, the little droid was still with Poe.

A second later, the read out across the ship's visual comm unit informed her that Poe was in fact not with BB-8, but that he had left with Hux and Phasma days before in search of Luke Skywalker.

"No," Rey cried, falling back into her seat. Going to the AT-AT was a fruitless endeavor. Rey only had one other idea.

Maz.

Rey left the shiny, black ship just outside the pub and bounded up the ancient steps. Willing her eyes to adjust to the darkness faster, she made her way through the crowded of patrons to the counter.

"REEEEEEY" she heard Maz's voice echo through the room as the voices fell silent around her.

"Maz!" Rey cried as she ran to the woman, "I need your help, I need to find Poe."

The woman pushed her glasses further up her nose a bit, "Why do you need to find Poe?"

"I left him alone, a while ago. I've been gone so long. I need to make sure he's ok, I need to bring him home, he's my family." Rey's words tumbled out in a gush, something about Maz's expression caused tears to spring up inside her.

"Girl, I can see the truth of it in your eyes," Maz said softly, taking Rey's hands in her own, "The belonging you seek is not behind you." The woman took a breath letting her words sink in; a truth Rey had fought the entire trip from the castle to the pub. A truth she knew deep inside, Poe couldn't fill the ache inside her for belonging and love that she longed for in her heart. She knew who she wanted but she could never have. There was no one who could help him. If only Rey could have freed him from the tormented life of imprisonment he lived, locked away in his dark castle.

As if reading her thoughts, Maz gripped her hands a little tighter and said, "But there's one who still could."

"Luke," Rey whispered, the tears slipping onto her cheeks.

Hux stepped out of the back room just as Rey was bounding up the tavern steps to the door, his eye catching sight of her three hair buns.

"Was that…" he began, glancing around. "Maz," he enquired, "Was that Rey? Where was she going?"

Maz's mouth turned up in a slight smile, "She is where she needs to be."

Hux's eyes narrowed and he spun on his heel away from Maz, his long black trench coat nearly whipping her in the face. Phasma was close behind him as he pushed and shoved his way out of the crowded cantina.

Rey stopped just beside Plutt's tent. The cleaning station was crowded as usual with scavengers scrubbing old parts. A new sense of purpose but a total lack of direction plagued her spirit. She closed her eyes reaching into the Force for bearing. She felt him, Kylo, and the realization startled her. Though she had left him physically, her heart was still strung to his by a scarlet thread in the Force. She forced herself to look away from him though, his sadness and longing would only make her task more clouded with confusion.

There it was. Luke Skywalker. All the legends, rumors and tales converged in one point on the outskirts of the northern sand fields.

Rey's eyes flew open.

She spun toward Kylo's sleek ship and ran face first into a slender, red headed man.

"Hux."

"Rey, I'm so relieved to see you after all this time. I was consumed with worry for your safety," he reached a freckled hand toward her.

She moved away from him decisively, "I'm fine, thank you."

Hux gave an exaggerated sigh of relief, hand on heart, "Thank the stars, my dear. Your crazy, half-witted roommate was stumbling around here for days. He was going on and on about some beast in a metal mask having captured you. I was truly bereft."

"He's not crazy, don't call him that. There was a…" she paused, "…man in a metal mask. But he's not a beast as we once thought."

Hux let a huff of air escape his lungs in a rush.

"I have to go," Rey said.

"To this beast? You're as crazy as your friend." He said catching her by surprise and taking hold of her arm.

"Let go of me," she said wrenching herself free.

"You hear that," Hux said raising his voice and capturing the attention of every being in the area.

"Rey and the poor invalid, Poe, have been attacked by a monstrous beast in a metal mask. The personification of evil and darkness, our home must be cleansed of this wickedness," Hux shouted.

"What? No!" Rey shouted.

But Hux continued, "He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wonder free!"

"No, he won't, he'll just stay in his castle. He won't hurt anyone. He's just lonely, and afraid," she said, looking into the crowd's alarmed faces.

Hux looked at her then, but didn't lower his voice in the slightest as he said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have feelings for this monster."

"He's not a monster," Rey threw back.

"Well, he sounds like one to me," Hux sneered.

Phasma took hold of Rey from behind, pulling her away from Hux and out of the growing crowd as Hux droned on about screwing courage to the sticking place and one exciting ride.

Rey fought against Phasma but the woman was as strong as an ox. She easily deposited Rey behind Maz's pub and turned back toward Hux without even a second thought about Rey.

Rey stood to her feet, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She could see villagers streaming toward the wealthy Hux and his pontificating. She had to do something, now more than ever she realized, she needed Luke Skywalker.


	22. Luke Skywalker

The sand-beaten hovel was not what Rey had expected, but she trudged through the loose sand, letting the Force continue to guide her.

"Hello," she called into the collection of huts, "Hello."

Only silence greeted her, she climbed up a set of stone stairs past another little worn building.

Then she saw him, a man worn by age, alone in the distance on a sand dune in earth tone robes and a hooded tunic. His hair was wind-blown and greying with age. And he was watching her.

"Master Skywalker?" she called.

"Rey!" Poe came bursting out from one of the small huts to greet her. He caught her in a giant bear hug.

"Poe! I've been looking everywhere for you, I can't believe you're here!" Rey cried, wrapping her arms around the older man's neck.

"I found him Rey, I found Luke Skywalker. He did exist, all these years. I finally found him!" Poe shook his head in amazement at his good fortune. Then he grasped Rey's shoulders, "How are you here? How did you get here?"

"I found Luke in the Force," she answered softly, "I must speak to him." Her heart ached with the memory of Ben. She gently tugged Poe's hands away and started toward Luke.

"Master Skywalker," she said as she closed the distance between them, "I need your help. Your sister Leia, and her son, Ben Solo, they need you desperately."

The old man looked as if the weight of the years were resting solely upon his shoulders.

"I can't help them," he answered. Then he finally moved, passing by her gruffly and stalking off toward one of the tents.

"You don't understand, Ben, he was turned into Kylo Ren by a creature named Snoke. He needs your help to guide him back to the light. The whole town is headed to the castle now to destroy him. The situation couldn't be direr, please…" her voice faded into helplessness as she watched him reach his hut and mutter something about not having time.

"That's ridiculous," Poe laughed with mirth, "I've seen his routine. He isn't busy."

Rey's lips pressed together in a line as she knocked on the door of the hut and begged again, "Please help me."

"Hey, what's this?" Poe asked, picking up her bag. Rey turned to see Finn hopping out of her pack.

"Finn!" Rey and Poe cried in unison.

"You've met?" Rey asked, confused.

"Of course we have, come here, buddy. I've missed you!" he carefully picked up Finn and wondered off to show him around. Rey looked at the sun in the sky, she was wasting precious time. Hux and his mob were probably halfway to the castle by now.

"Master Skywalker, please," Rey was about to go on when the door popped open.

"It's time for you to go away," his stern voice greeted her.

"Your sister Leia will want to know why you didn't come to help, she deserves to know the truth," Rey pleaded, bitterness seeping into her voice, "She's waited for so long."

"I tried to help once before, in my arrogance I didn't recognize Ben's raw power and affinity toward the dark side," he dismissed her again.

"He's not committed to the dark side, you thought his decision was made but it isn't, there is still light in him." Rey held out her hand to Luke, pleading now, desperate.

He just looked at her sadly, unmoving.

"Fine," Rey nodded and turned to leave. She scooped up Finn, dropping him back into her bag. Rey helped Poe up the gangplank to Ben's ship. They couldn't waste any more time.

Rey set the fastest course to Ben's castle. She leaned her head into her hands and let Poe take a turn flying the ship. He seemed to enjoy the chance to really use his old skills once again. Rey could imagine he'd had a talent for it in his younger years.

When the castle came into view, Rey realized it was much worse than she had even imagined. Hux had mobilized the entire village. Every scavenger, merchant, and beggar must have been there, pounding on the castle door. Rey's hand flew to her mouth when she saw the door finally give way and the mob flow into the castle like a torrent of water loosed from a dam.

Poe touched the ship down in the back of the castle and Rey jumped out of the ship before the gangplank had even completely finished lowering. She ran as fast as her feet would carry her into the rear door of the castle, now broken open by the mob's exuberance and shoved her way to the stairs leading to the west wing.

Villagers were pillaging everything they could and Rey could see the members of the castle staff fighting back as best they could against the invaders.

Above her on the stairs she could hear the footsteps of one lone figure, racing upward. She strained her neck as she ran to see if she could make out who it was. A flash of red hair flew around a bend.

Hux.

Rey's stomach lurched. She willed herself to calm down and focus, Hux was no match for Ben, not even close.

A laugh broke out in the room above her, Hux's voice made her cringe.

"So the dim wit and the girl were telling the truth," he sputtered, "Who could have known?"

Silence followed and then a crash. Rey rounded the final turn just in time to see Hux fire a bowcaster at Ben.

"No!" she screamed seeing the scorch mark begin to smoke in Ben's side. His masked face shot up.

"Rey?" he cried, his voice breaking with pain.

"Ben," she breathed.

"So good of you to join us," Hux sniveled as he turned on her.

Without thinking, Rey backed away from him, but just as she did, she caught sight of Phasma entering through the doorway behind her. She ran toward the balcony.

Hux was right behind her, pursuing her with every hurried step. Rey could see Ben hobbling through the room, in no condition to fight now.

"Leave him alone," she cried, still retreating. But as she bumped into the balcony wall she felt the lightsaber on her belt. She took a breath and using the Force, called it into her hand.

Phasma halted immediately, frozen where she stood.

"Go away," Rey said, her voice firmer, more in control with a weapon ignited and at the ready.

Phasma looked toward Ben, and back to Rey once more before turning on her heel and escaping to the stairwell once more.

Rey couldn't help letting the edges of her lips turn up in a slight smile. Things just got significantly easier.

The moment was short lived though. Hux was pulling another blaster out of his holster and pointing it at her. She was feeling less than certain about her skills with the lightsaber having only had the single lesson and being completely distracted at that.

Ben was just passing through the door onto the balcony.

"Hux don't do this," Rey said, holding the lightsaber extended in front of her.

Hux fired.

Rey screamed, her eyes flying shut, expecting the searing pain of a blaster bolt to pierce her flesh.

But nothing happened.

Then she heard the crackling hum of a suspended blaster bolt and opened her eyes frantically.

Hux swung around to face Ben whose hand was outstretched toward the blaster bolt, holding it in place.

"There's more than one way to do this," Hux growled.

Hux leapt toward Rey knocking the lightsaber out of her hand and shoving her toward the balcony railing.

"Don't even think about coming over here," Hux shouted to Ben, raising his blaster bolt and firing again.

The bolt landed squarely in Ben's chest and sent him crumpling to the floor.

"No!" Rey screamed.

Suddenly, Hux was clutching his chest, releasing Rey in the process. Rey shrieked, the blaster bolt was no longer suspended but had reached its target in the shooter's own chest.

Then Hux was falling, his weight having been entirely over the railing as he tried to send Rey over and no longer possessing the power to keep himself stable. Rey cried in horror as he tumbled off the balcony to the depths below.

Rey lurched toward Ben and skidded into a halt, falling to her knees on the floor beside him.

Ben's gloved fingers curled around hers softly as she knelt beside him clutching his hand.

"Ben, you're going to be ok, Poe's coming with a med kit." Rey buried her head in his chest, listening for his unsteady heartbeat, "You're going to be alright."

"Rey, I'm so sorry, about everything," Ben's voice was weak and horse through the modulator.

"No, don't apologize." She choked back a sob, "Don't you see?" she pulled his gloved hand to her face, "I'm glad I was here."

"I'm just happy…I got to see you, one more time," his halting voice was nothing more than a whisper.

A sob caught in Rey's throat, "Don't leave me," she whispered.

His hand went limp against her face and she felt him exhale.

"No," she cried, tears streaming down her face, "I love you."

There was no answer. Rey gripped his hand tighter and collapsed onto his chest. Sobs rocked her small frame.

"There was still light in him," a voice said from somewhere behind her.

"You," Rey wheeled on him, still clinging to Ben's tunic in her fists, "you're too late. He's gone now."

Luke shook his head. "Amazing, every word of what you just said was wrong," Luke Skywalker circled around them once, his hand extended over his nephew.

Rey stood to her feet and ignited her lightsaber.

"You failed him," Rey said, her voice broken by emotion.

"No one is ever really gone, Rey." His voice was gentle and quiet, "You found the light in him, the love inside him…when all I ever saw was his raw power."

Luke took a step back, "See you around, kid."

He was gone, vanished into thin air before Rey's very eyes.

Rey bit her lip to stifle a sob as she fell back to her knees. She reached for Ben's gloved hand but as she held him, the leather glove crumbled at her touch. She dropped it in shock.

Snoke's magic was crumbling away.


	23. The Kiss

"Ben? Ben!" Rey screamed, clutching his now bare hand.

His head moved slightly at the sound. She caught his pale face in her free hand. His skin was light and speckled with moles. She traced his cheek with her thumb several times.

He was alive. There was hope.

"Ben, wake up, we're safe now." Rey said, quieter now.

Rey could hear a low, deep groan as he reached up to touch his face, now clear from Snoke's entrapments.

"What...?" His eyes fluttered open.

Rey sat back on her heals, her hands flying to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

His deep brown eyes probed her face.

"Rey?" he started to sit up, "You can see me? The real...me?"

Rey nodded mutely.

Ben blinked a few times and glanced at his hands.

"Are you alright?" he probed her.

"I'm fine," her voice was little more than a whisper.

He nodded. His hand slowly lifted to her face where a tear was trickling down her face.

"Don't cry," he said softly as he wiped the tear gently with his thumb.

"I never thought—" she shook her head, banishing the words.

Without thinking, she sprang forward and caught him in her arms.

The wind was nearly knocked out of him, or maybe Ben was in shock at her abrupt affection, but a moment later he found himself wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer.

He breathed her name into her soft brown hair.

"You saved me," he whispered.

She pulled away enough to look at him.

"I love you," he whispered, "I'm so sorry, so sorry about everything."

She shook her head and leaned into him again, resting her forehead against his.

"I love you, Ben Solo."

And then he kissed her, pulling her into his lap and wrapping her up in his arms.

When at last they pulled apart for a needy breath, Rey finally said, "There are a few people who, I know, want to see you."

A shadow passed over Ben's face as he nodded.

"We'll do it together." She whispered against his cheek.

She felt him nod, "Together."

Rey stayed by his side as Ben reunited with his family. The castle was entirely free of Snoke's power. The land surrounding it had healed from the fiery inferno to a grassy meadow with wildflowers sprinkled about. Maybe it wasn't the lavish gardens of the past, but there was time to grow those things back.

There was hope now for Rey and Ben Solo. They would never be parted again.


End file.
